Lillix

After two years of development, Lillix released their first album, Falling Uphill, which has won the quartet positive attention from everyone from Billboard to Rolling Stone. The band's single, "It's About Time," is a top 40 hit, and their version of "What I Like About You" is featured on the TV show of the same name and in the movie Freaky Friday.

Appeal

Two of the four members of Lillix -- Louise and Tasha Ray -- are still underage, so until their 18th birthdays roll around, any discussion of their sexiness would be inappropriate. However, four minus two is still two: so that leaves 19-year-old Lacey Lee and 23-year-old Kim to pick up the sex-appeal slack.

But despite their looks, neither Kim nor Lacey Lee seems eager to flaunt her femininity -- at least, not for mere publicity or record sales. "Ewww," said Lacey Lee when reflecting on how the band was tarted up in early publicity shots. "The idea that I may one day end up on some teenage boy's wall looking like that... well, it's weird, isn't it?"

No.

Success

It's safe to say that Lillix is the greatest thing to come out of Cranbrook, British Columbia; and with half the group still in high school, they've accomplished quite a bit. Their debut album, Falling Uphill, is a critical hit -- a rarity in teen pop -- and is sure to earn them a devoted following before long.

However, Lillix has only had widespread exposure for the past few months, so their fame remains nascent. The girls had difficulty getting their album just right, and had to stay out of sight while perfecting it. Now that they're out touring and promoting their hard work -- including contributing to the soundtrack for the teen comedy Freaky Friday -- expect their fame to grow accordingly.

Lillix Biography

The three founding members of Lillix, sisters Lacey Lee Evin (born 1984) and Tasha Ray Evin (born 1986), and Louise Burns (born 1986), all grew up in the small town of Cranbrook, British Columbia, population 18,000. The Evin sisters showed an interest in music early on in their lives.

Lacey Lee was introduced to rock 'n' roll in 1991, when, after the death of Freddie Mercury, she heard Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the first time and was in awe. Tasha Ray took up the guitar when she was 8 years old, and the two girls began writing songs together.

The Evin sisters teamed up with schoolmates Louise Burns and Sierra Hills in 1997 to form a band, which they called Tigerlily. Part of the appeal of making music for the girls, explains Louise, was that it helped fight off the boredom of their isolated town. "It's a huge hockey town, not a big music town. A typical Friday night involves going to bush parties where everyone hangs around a bonfire drinking beer."

a few snags along the way

Tigerlily continued to make music in obscurity until Louise's father, Bruce Burns, placed a call to Jonathan Simkin, a Vancouver entertainment lawyer, seeking advice for the girls. Simkin, who represented Nickelback, among others, was intrigued by the group, and asked Burns to send him a demo.

When it arrived, Simkin was sold. He had the group record new demos in the summer of 2000, and sent them off to the major record companies. The first to respond was Madonna's Maverick label, and after auditioning in Los Angeles for Maverick honchos -- including the Material Girl herself -- the girls were offered a record deal.

But stardom did not follow right away, as the girls faced a few setbacks. First, they discovered that there already was a band called Tigerlily, so a new name had to be chosen. Tigerlily became Tigerlily X and then Lily X, before the girls decided on Lillix.

Then, their original drummer, Sierra Hills, left the group, and the girls had to find a replacement. Vancouver native Kim Urhahn, born in 1980, filled out the foursome once again, bringing to the group a percussive experience rooted somewhere between the Ramones and Latin rhythms.

Lillix experienced further delays thanks not only to the corporate restructuring of their record company, but also because the girls went to a lot of trouble to find the right producer. Eventually, they scored not one, but many hot producers, including the Matrix, Philip Steir, Linda Perry, John Shanks and Glen Ballard. But in the process, Lillix ended up completely redoing its debut album before deciding that it was just right. "We basically started with one record and threw it away and started another one," explains Tasha Ray.

about time

Finally, in March 2003, Lillix released its first single, appropriately entitled "It's About Time," which hit the top 40. The band's debut record, Falling Uphill, followed in May, to acclaim from critics and fans alike. Lillix received favorable press both from teen magazines like Seventeen and mainstream mags such as Rolling Stone. Associated Press proclaimed that their songs showed "bursts of creativity and sparkle."

Lillix's cover of the Romantics' hit "What I Like About You" has brought them further attention. The track has become the theme song for the WB television series of the same name, and is also featured in the new movie Freaky Friday, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Currently, Lillix wrapped up the Rock 'n' Shop Tour, sponsored by Teen People, and the girls are taking a break in Vancouver before playing in the Warped Tour's Ladies Lounge beginning in October.